In contrast to the plethora of works focusing on the tragic loss of human lives during the First World War, little is known about the more hopeful realities of thousands of prisoners of war from Britain, France, Germany and Belgium who were sent to Switzerland from 1916. This book explores the everyday lives of these prisoners and their impact on Switzerland.
Internees were warmly welcomed by local people and given education, training and employment. Leading relatively free lives, they were able to engage in leisure activities and develop new relationships. However, they also contributed to the country's economy, helping to keep Swiss tourism alive at a time when businesses were struggling and alleviating Switzerland's labour shortage as Swiss men were called-up to defend their borders and preserve the country's neutrality.
Drawing on a wide range of sources from official records to magazines and postcards, Susan Barton provides an absorbing account of the social and cultural history of internment in Switzerland.
Susan Bartonis Honorary Visiting Research Fellow at De Montfort University, UK. She is the author of
Working-Class Organisations and Popular Tourism, 1840-1970(2005) and
Healthy Living in the Alps: The Origins of Winter Tourism in Switzerland, 1860-1914(2008) and co-editor of
Travel and Tourism in Britain, 17001914(2014).
Susan Barton convincingly conveys the benefits of the Swiss humanitarian model for both internees and local populations. Her book should appeal to anyone interested in the effects of the Great War on Switzerland or the development of humanitarian efforts to ameliorate wartime suffering. Michigan War Studies Review
A valuable reference work for students and those with a family interest in the subject to consult in a library - or borrow from me. Kandahar Review
Susan Barton provides an engaging and entertaining in-depth study of a program that saw soldiers, ei
![Internment in Switzerland during the First World War [Hardcover]](/itemImage/2/0/9/1/2_4230694.jpg "Internment in Switzerland during the First World War [Hardcover]")